Digest

Published
6:30 am CST, Wednesday, December 15, 2004

FOOD

Pizza Inn cans CEO, alleging violations

DALLAS - Pizza Inn's board has fired President and CEO
Ronald Parker
for "violations of his employment agreement," and the restaurant company postponed indefinitely its annual shareholder meeting set for today.

The company, which franchises over 400 restaurants, said in a statement Tuesday that Parker was fired at a special board meeting on Saturday.

Parker was dismissed for his role in crafting an employment contract and changes to corporate bylaws that ben-
efited executives, said Bill Brewer, an attorney for Pizza Inn, based in The Colony, a Dallas suburb.

LEADERSHIP

Gates gains spot on Buffett board

NEW YORK - Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, Tuesday said it elected Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, to be a director.

Gates, a co-founder of the software giant, is a friend and bridge partner of Buffett and a long-standing Berkshire shareholder.

Gates takes the place of Buffett's wife, Susan Buffett, who died of a stroke in July.

The move keeps Berkshire's board at 11 members and further bolsters its independence.

Only two years ago, Berkshire's board had seven members, with only three that would be considered independent.

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

COURT

Maryland ruling overturns spam law

ROCKVILLE, MD. - A judge has ruled that Maryland's anti-spam law, the first state law to penalize senders of junk e-mail, is unconstitutional because it seeks to regulate commerce outside the state's borders.

Last week's ruling, which threw out a lawsuit against a New York e-mail marketer, effectively overturns Maryland's 2002 Commercial Electronic Mail Act.